


Welcome, Citizens of the Underground, To The Surface!

by Spyrofury767



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AND I MIGHT WRITE FLUFF, Alphine - Freeform, Birthdays, Chara Is Dead, Dark Past, EVENTUAL FLOWEYPOT, Gaster Blasters, I swear, Multi, OCs - Freeform, Oh god, Oneshits, Past Child Abuse, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Sans gets sick in the first chapter, Sickfic, Soriel, Undertale Monsters on the Surface, collection of oneshots, i can't tag, ill add more tags, sads, tags will change, undertale - Freeform, when I'm less tired
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-07-25 23:21:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7551133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spyrofury767/pseuds/Spyrofury767
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of Oneshots (oneshits) from the Gang's adventures on the surface. </p><p>They should be chronological, and I'll let you know if they aren't.</p><p>Most take place 5 years after their escape.</p><p>Idk what else to add, but you can give me prompts! </p><p>Comment shit you want them to react to or do or see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sticks and Stones

When Sans woke up in the morning, it took him a minute to register everything. He wasn’t in his house in Snowdin, even if it was snowy and cold here, and everything felt strange. But when he sat up and looked around the cheerily painted blue room, it all flooded back. 

 

_ Surface. Right.  _ Sans thought, and turned to look out the window. The sun had already risen, obviously a while ago, but it cast bright shimmers and flickers of light across the fresh snow. Despite the beauty, and how alive Sans felt at that second, he couldn’t help the strange feeling that resided in his core. His bones felt slightly heavy and strangely warm, his magic sticky and sleepy. 

 

Sans sighed. He didn’t entirely know what was wrong with him.  _ Maybe I’m just tired. _ He thought.  _ It’ll go away as the day goes too. _ He smirked to himself, and started to get dressed. Midway through his dressing, an alert on his phone went off. He picked up the phone, reading the alert. 

 

WAKE UP YOU GOT HALF AN HOUR

 

It was an alert that Sans had set for himself, and it still made him snicker.  _ Huh. I’m a little stuffy too.  _ He realized with a snort. Sans never got sick.  _ I just overslept.  _ He disregarded his symptoms, threw on his jacket and walked downstairs. 

 

Papyrus, who had gotten a job at a swanky restaurant as a pasta chef (literally his dream job.) was no where to be seen. Since being on the surface, Papyrus had started taking cooking classes with a human, which Sans didn’t entirely approve of, but the first time he met Jack Skelton (fortunate last name aside.) he deemed him fully capable. If anything, Jack was equally as exuberant as Papyrus, and the two of them had a spectacular time. Jack was a wonderful cook, and Papyrus was more than happy to learn whatever he had to teach. Since the two of them started cooking together, Jack had become a regular sight among the monsters on holidays, being invited by Papyrus to help cook. He wasn’t just Papyrus’ teacher, he was his friend. 

 

Instead of Papyrus or Jack around, there was a sandwich and a note. Sans grabbed the note first. 

 

_ HELLO BROTHER! JACK AND I HAVE GONE TO THE MALL! WE’RE LOOKING FOR NEW PIE PANS FOR TORIEL’S BIRTHDAY! HERE IS A SANDWICH. GET TO WORK ON TIME! _

_ -Papyrus _

 

Sans couldn’t help snickering at his brother’s distinctive, capitalized handwriting. Below Papyrus’ note was one from Jack.

 

_ Heya dude! Paps and I went to the mall. New pie pans for Ms. Toriel. I can’t wait to see her reaction to them! I want to get some gag ones. Papyrus made you a sandwich (Sanswich?). Make sure to spa-get-ti out of here on time. :) _

_ -Jack  _

 

Sans burst out laughing. Between the puns and the fact that there was a tiny cartoon skull beside Jack’s name, it was killing him inside. Jack made puns very rarely, but if anything, that’s what made even Papyus love them. They were so perfectly timed. 

 

With his grin less forced and more relaxed, Sans grabbed the sandwich (he’d need to remember the Sanswich thing.) and darted out the door. 

 

It took about two hours into work to realize that this wasn’t just some side effect of oversleeping. He was exhausted, still stuffy, and he felt hot and heavy all over. 

 

Sans worked at a grocery store, restocking shelves. Well, that was his cover, anyway. In reality, he worked with Alphys at a human laboratory doing research on souls. Because of the type of research they were doing, on artificial souls and some fallen monsters who had given their souls to research, everyone working there needed a part-time cover job. Alphy’s was an anime script writer, which she loved and was really, really damn good at. Within the first week, the feature showing of her new anime had attracted over 1.4 million viewers. It was a Romeo and Juliet-esque story of a fire elemental and a water nymph in love, but it was the most popular show on it’s channel. 

 

Sans reached to get a jar with his magic, pulling his hand back to call it toward him, into his palm. Just as he did so, he yawned, looking away… 

 

And something smashed into the back of his head. Sans splattered to the floor, dazed. 

 

“Sans, oh my god!” He heard a cry through a confused haze. A human female put down a box of… Other, smaller boxes and ran toward him. “Are you alright?” She asked, kneeling beside him and gently grabbing his shoulders, lifting his upper body into her lap. 

 

A slow tingling started in his lower chest. He could feel the human checking his stats. Sans was pretty proud of himself. In the five years that he had been on the surface, his HP had risen from 1 to 15. “Oh thank god…” She whispered. 

 

Sans had only lost 2 HP. He was fine. A little dizzy and dazed, but fine. 

 

He forced himself to focus, pain blossoming in the back of his head. “W-wha-... Chaundel?” He asked tiredly. His vision was swimming a little. 

 

“Sans, what were you thinking, coming into work today!?” The human demanded. Her fierce green eyes focused on him. They reminded Sans of a cat. 

 

“S-sorry, Del…” He said lamely, giving the best grin he could when he felt like he was in a washing machine. “I-I’m just… Bone tired. Heh…” He gave a weak laugh. 

 

“Bull. Shit, Sans. You’re really, really hot.” She said, glaring at him. He could feel the concerned kindness behind the eyes that reflected her main soul color. 

 

“I guess you could say I’m sans-ational.” He gave a bigger grin, making a weak attempt to fingergun the human. 

 

“Not that kind of hot, dumbass. Fevered hot.” Del’s eyes narrowed. “You’re sick, Sans. You need to take the day.”

 

“Wh-what?!” Sans said, panicked. “I-it’s ok, Del, really, I’m good!” He sat up, and almost instantly flopped back down.  _ Ow… _ He thought.

 

“Sans, you look like shit.” She said, adjusting him to be more supported. Sans, who had started to feel strangely cold about an hour ago, snuggled a little into her, trying to warm up. “And you’re burning up. You can’t sit up, nevermind stand.” She zipped up his sweater, picked up the jar of jam that Sans had nailed himself with. “You  _ smuckered  _ yourself pretty good with the jam, by the way.”

 

“Oh god…” Sans turned, already guessing what type of jam it was. Indeed, he had smacked himself with a jar of Smucker’s jam. “If it helps, it lives up to it’s name.”

 

Del gave a long, slow sigh, and pulled out her phone. She dialled a number, and placed it on her shoulder, leaning her head to the side to support her phone on her shoulder. “Yeah, Boss? Sorry, but Sans and I’ve got to take a day. Sans is sick and just nailed himself with a jar of Smucker’s.” She smiled, and let out a light laugh. “Yeah, I already made that joke.” She waited a second, trying to adjust Sans into a more comfortable position. “He’s pretty ok, not too well, pretty dazed.” She said, gently petting his skull, trying to be comforting. “I mean, the jar just kinda threw him but he’s pretty warm.” Sans’ eyes were closed, only semi-trying not to pass out. “No, don’t call someone. I’ll get him home. I think it’s just a flu that screwed him up and then he got smacked. Ok yeah. I’ll tell him. Thanks, Boss.” She grabbed her phone from under her ear and turned it off. “Joe says get well soon.” She told him with a small smile.

 

“Hmm…” Sans said, opening his eyes. His eyelights were barely pinpricks. 

 

“You look awful. C’mon… Is your brother home?” She asked, as she picked scooped him up. He might have been pretty stocky, but at the same time, he was just bone. He was a pretty heavy skeleton, but also really light to a human. 

 

“...He’s out.” Sans said, blinking tiredly. He would’ve been embarrassed that this human was carrying him if he could think. 

 

“And your sister?” She asked. She didn’t have either of his sibling’s numbers, but Del was a close friend of Toriel’s, and Sans liked her a good bit. 

 

“...Some mission. No.” He whispered. 

 

Del sighed. “I’ll hang out with you at home until Papyrus gets back.” She said, walking the skeleton to her car.

 

About 10 minutes later, they had gotten to Sans’ house, the skeleton himself in a fitful sleep. Del managed to get them inside, filching Sans’ key out of his coat, and laying the skeleton on the couch. She covered him with a blanket. 

 

_ What more can I do?! I don’t know how skeleton monsters wor- _

 

At that moment, Papyrus walked in. “Oh! Hello Chaundel!” Papyrus started, holding a large bag of boxes. “What are you doing he- OH MY GOD SANS!” Papyrus placed down his bag and ran over to his brother. Sans blinked awake. 

 

“H-hey bro…” He said weakly. 

 

“Sans, you’re sick!” Papyrus pressed a hand to his brother’s head. “...Chaundel, thank you. If you want, you can go…” Papyrus looked at her with a sad smile. Del nodded, grabbed her bag, and left. 

 

“Hey bro…” Sans murmured again. Papyrus gently sighed. 

 

“Oh brother… You should’ve stayed home…” He said, running a hand slowly down the side of his older sibling’s face. “You’re burning up…” Papyrus whispered softly as Sans leant into the coolness of the other’s bones. At some point he had wanted to be warmer. Now he wanted to be colder.

 

Papyrus called Alphys. “Hello, Alphys?” He asked loudly into the phone.

 

“H-hello Papyrus!” Alphys answered. 

 

“I have a problem. Sans is ill.” He said, looking over the sick older brother. “I can’t reach our sister, so it’s just us. What should I do?! I've never had to take care of Sans before!” Papyrus squeaked frantically.

 

“W-whoa wh-whoa Papyrus! I-I’m sure S-Sans will be fine!” Alphys stuttered reassuringly. “He just needs a rest.”

 

“C-can I do anything fo-for him?!” Papyrus asked. 

 

“Take his temperature, and give him some medicine. Make sure he gets lots of water. Th-that’s about all you can do.” 

 

Papyrus let out a long sigh. “...Thank you Alphys.” He huffed, and hung up after saying goodbye. “Sans…” Papyrus whispered as he came back from going to grab the thermometer and a water bottle. “Drink something please.” He offered Sans the bottle of water.

 

Sans made a dull groan, but sat up and took the water, managing to take a few sips before laying back down. 

 

It took days for Sans to even start getting better. He was stuck in a constant haze of fever dreams and a whispy present, his magic sluggish, stirred.

 

When he finally does get better though, it's all one question for him.

 

“Uh, Paps?”

 

“Yes brother?”

 

“Why is there a jar of jam here… With a tag that says ‘get well soon’?”

 

“Oh, your human friend dropped it off! She said it would remind you to stay at home some days.”

 

Sans turned around the jar… To see the dent that his own skull had made in the metal cap.

 

“.....dELLLL!!!”


	2. Lies Are Only Truths In Disguise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An insight into what Chiller does now

Chiller raised her hand, a set of tentacles shooting from the floor to sweep Switchblade away from the guns aimed in her direction. 

 

“Fucking monster lovers!” Screams one of the attackers. Someone had decided it would be a good idea to bomb the monster restaraunt, Grillby’s. Unfortunately, it also was the most popular restaurant of its kind in town, with humans and monsters. 

 

Some kind human had overheard their conversation, and had called up the MHTA immediately. The MHTA, the monster-human task force, was a brutal and deadly group of humans and monsters, specifically focused on taking out terrorist groups. 

 

Chiller had joined them without hesitation. 

 

A way to protect her brothers, species, and friends without needing to be held back.

 

Undyne had tried out for the MHTA, but in the first attack, she had switched back to the police force.

 

‘Too much blood.’ She said. ‘Too many deaths.’ She said.

 

Chiller didn't give a damn about either of those things.

 

“Wildcat, on your six!” Electro’s voice played in her ear, the com ringing with the shouted warning. Each of them had code names, to conceal their real names from potential attackers. 

 

Chiller whirled around, brought up her left hand, and fired a small blast, the man holding a sub-machine gun throwing back as the beam of light nailed him in the chest, tossing him like a rag doll.

 

“Thanks for the warning, Elec.” Chiller’s constant, reassuring semi-growl returned to them. 

 

She whirled around, spinning, casting beams of light everywhere, palms smoking with excess magic and her panting in exertion as the magic took its careful toll. 

 

Chiller might’ve had more magic in the first place, but that didn't mean she was immune to the side effect of using too much.

 

She vaulted over a counter, landing behind it, to where Grillby was defending a rabbit woman and her child. 

 

“Heya.” She directed her voice to the child, forcing more of a purr than a growl. “My name’s Wildcat, I’m gonna get you out of here, ok?” She smiled, and the child took her hand in his soft paw. Chiller gently surrounded the three monsters in a layer of purple magic. Then she leaned into her com. “Trans, I need you. Behind the desk. Three hostages.” She said coolly, and waited. A water elemental slipped over the desk, and lay a grey portal on the floor. 

 

“This one leads to outside the building.” The water elemental, voice like a bubbling stream, waited for them to go through.

 

Chiller lifts the group up with her magic, sending them through the portal before Trans closed it. The cat raised her hand, firing a beam around before leaping over the counter and gasping. 

 

There, two of the humans held BFBs.

 

BFBs and their pistol-sized counterparts, the RTPS, were magical blasters and magical guns. 

 

Great for incapacitating humans, taking the human using them’s magic and amplifiying it, to be used as a small pulse or as a massive beam. 

 

Their technical name was ‘Magic Amplification Weapons’, but after Undyne, who now worked as Deputy in Chief in the force, brought them to the station, her officer friends coined their other names. 

 

First came the test run of the RTPS, when one of the senior officers noticed that the small, gunmetal grey, glowing, sleek pistols sounded like pew-pew guns.

 

So one of the junior officers helpfully supplied the name ‘Rooty Tooty Point and Shooty.’ 

 

Every officer in the room lost their minds, some leaning on tables or having to put down their coffee for risk of spilling it, from monsters to humans, young to old… Everyone was nearly crying with laughter. 

 

Since that fateful test, the ‘Magic Amplication Pistol’ became the RTPS, or the Pew Pew Guns. 

 

The Blasters were a whole other deal. The officers testing them, and the Chief, went to Alphys’ lab to get a look at them in the testing ground. They compared them to Sans’ blasters, actually. 

 

When one of the younger officers, (The same one, actually. His name was Devin Kalaway.) got his turn at shooting the Blaster, he saw how big Sans’ blasts got, and immediately tried to match Sans’ output with his own. Bright orange light had erupted from the cannon, hitting the absorber on the other side of the room. Sans saw it as a challenge, and made himself fire his blast exactly as long as the kid’s. Devin didn’t stop shooting the gun until his bolt was the same size as Sans’, and only then did he stop. 

 

Both of them leaned over, heaving for air. Magic permeated the air, the scent of ozone heavy and hot, blanketed over them. Sans’ soul thrummed a brutally bright blue, and Devin’s throbbed orange. 

 

The Chief laughed, and said to them,”Now that, is a big fucking blaster!” 

 

So BFB became the name of the two handed, magic based cannons. 

 

Now, Chiller stood, pinned between two of them, the humans holding them grinning maliciously. Her purple eyes surveyed them as they charged. On her left hand side, was a human with an orange blast charging, magic swirling around the tip. On her right, a thick purple glow had taken residence in the barrel, preparing for the fire. The guns’ silvery barrels reflected the magic glowing on their tips. 

 

_ Bravery, Perseverance. Contradictory emotions are Integrity, Justice.  _ She thought, reflecting momentarily on magical types. She had a second to snap her hands out to the corners, blue and yellow shields forming on her hands, effectively blocking the other’s magic. Despite that, she slipped backward on the polished tile, at least, until she drove in her claws and shoved back, maneuvering the counterattack at both of them. The Perseverance human had the intelligence to move, while the Bravery human took the brunt of it, his gun exploding in magical backfire, spreading orange metallic dust across the area, as he was blown back. 

 

The green-grey eyes of the Perseverance human flicked to a spot just to her left, and she caught onto, finally, what was happening in her coms.

 

“-wo monsters, skeletal, needing extra- oh shit.” Switchblade growled. 

 

The human shot a blast over her shoulder…

 

And into a small, stocky skeleton, throwing his now-limp body back with wide, frightened eyes. He slammed into a wall, the sickening  _ crack  _ of  magi bones causing fear and hate to rise like bile at the back of Chiller’s throat. 

 

If she had been in her right mind, she would’ve realized that there was nothing wrong, that Sans had only been dazed, that the crack was a shield that Switchblade had given him…

 

As it stood, she whipped back to face the human and his assistants, the entire gang aiming for her. 

 

And she roared, a pure, predatory scream of rage and loathing. The humans, fear stricken, started to flee. Her bones became shrouded in purple as the humans tumbled over one another to escape her, out onto the empty street, into the cold night air. 

 

They stumbled out, Chiller following seconds later, her entire form wracked with tremors as she held down her transformation until she was free from a building.

 

And she shifted, her bones shredding and ripping out, increasing in density and size. Every friendly monster and human, that was inside the bar or out, ran outside, only to see a Megaloviathan morph. 

 

When Sans and Papyrus rushed out, they were at a loss. A complete and total loss. 

 

Chiller’s body fell forward, the bone ‘sheath’ that she had over her lower limbs, tail and face splitting and falling off, leaving only raw bone. One pair of ribs, just behind her shoulder blades, split from her spine, scrunching forward, extending and straightening. Some of the vertebrae on her back melted outward, creating a new sheet of bone which split and snapped off, smoothing and becoming a second set of scapulas.

 

The broken ribs warped, extended into two separate pieces, a second radius and ulna on each one, connected to the brand new humerus and scapula. From the base of the bones, carpals broke, shredding any bone-skin that was still left on her paw. Phalanges erupted from half-formed metacarpals, expanding into brutal claws. The second set of arms crashed into the pavement, cracking the concrete, tar and ash flying around her as her bones and body cracked, thickening and lengthening. Her tail lashed, leaving a massive scar across a building, tearing into the stone. 

 

Her head lowered, her eyes leveling onto the humans of her opposition, who were staring at her on horror. Her head, without the skin like covering, was a longer version of a Gaster Blaster, all teeth and fangs and fierce spike crown. 

 

She brought up her head, straightening… And she roared. 

 

The ground shuddered, the soft rock of a light earthquake, an aftershock of godly intensity, sparks and snaps of brutal purple energy bubbling in the back of her throat. The noise was a wolffish howl and a lion’s roar, all power and perfection. 

 

She was some 110 feet long, 40 feet to the shoulder, a Megaloviathan in every sense of the word. 

 

Sans had read of these things in their files. All of them could do it. 

 

Papyrus’ had been estimated to be the same size as Sans’, if only slightly larger, and both of them were supposed to be a little larger than the size as Chiller was now. 

 

Despite her insanity, she was keeping control of her transformation, reducing her size for the safety of those around her. Her body shook with unreleased energy, wanting to go bigger. She clamped down, holding tightly to her shape. All the pent up power inside of her went into a blast that erupted from her jaw, slamming the humans back, badly injuring them. She pounded them into a wall, then her entire body leapt forward to finish the job when Sans shot in front of her.

 

She pulled up short. 

 

“Chiller, STOP!” Sans yelled. “You caught them!” He looked at her in terror fully expecting to be kicked aside like the insect he was… But then her form was once again enveloped in purple light… And she began shrinking, her body collapsing in on itself, until she was her normal, two legged form. She stared at Sans slowly. 

 

“S...ans…” She whispered, her eyelights flickering to white slits, then white circles. Sans’ eyes widened and he rushed forward, barely catching her before the lights faded and she collapsed.

 

Sans and Papyrus made eye contact. The world had just seen a Megaloviathan on the street.

 

This couldn’t end well.


	3. The Truth About Birthdays and Magic’s Haze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Sans' birthday.
> 
> And he doesn't know how to deal.

Sans sunk deep into the gloriously hot water of Chiller’s whirlpool hot tub, deciding that his sister had the literal coolest backyard ever. 

 

It was late evening, and Chiller herself was inside, on the phone. Sans wasn’t quite paying attention, he was warm and soaked and relaxed and sleepy. Good lord was he sleepy. 

 

About 20 feet away, Eras, Frisk and Asriel splashed around in her actual pool, a reasonably sized, in the ground, tiled pool. Frisk did a neat swan dive off the board, while Asriel threw in the towel and did a massive cannonball. He proceeded to leap about a foot off the ground when Eras grabbed his tail.

 

All three of them were laughing raucously, so Sans devoted his attention to the conversation his sister was having instead.

 

“-so that’s the date then? Yeah, sure we can do it at my place, GM. I mean, where else could we hold it that would be able to keep everyone comfortably?...I mean, true, but I’ve got the pool… Uh huh they can borrow the guest bedroom, or better yet, I could ask Gwen if she could put them to bed…. I mean, Gwen loves the kids.” She was obviously talking to one of her co-workers, Sans figured, but why in hell was she calling the person on the phone ‘GM’ and yet, she called another of her collegues, Gwen, by her real name, not the cover name she always used, Trans. “Yeah I mean I guess we could do that. What kinda stuff should you bring? Oh uh… Shit to make drinks wi- Yes GM, the kids were outside when I said that.” There was a small clang as Chiller got something out of a cupboard. “Oh they’re fine. Sans is keeping an eye socket on them. “But yeah just some stuff to make drinks with later, maybe a desert… Yeah he’d probably love that. It’s perfect… Of course the chocolate fudge filling! We’d be crazy not to! Grab two, in case the kids eat all the first one. Two small ones, don’t go overboard.”

 

_ What in the world? _ Sans thought, checking up on the kids. Nothing too wild was happening, so he went back to listening.  _ What is Chiller plotting now? _

 

“Alright then. It’s on my calender. I’ll get him here, I swear. You just have the stuff ready, I’m making dinner….Alright… Ok, talk to you later. Bye!” She hung up. Sans tried to look casual as she slid open her glass door and walked out, dipping her paws in the hot tub experimentally before submerging herself, her normal, skintight outfit replaced with a bodysuit for swimming. “Heya Sans.” She said casually.

 

“‘Sup Chill?” He smirked at her, trying to act like he had not just been spying on her. Although, knowing Chiller, she already figured out he had been. She had been set on holiday leave for 3 weeks after the Megaloviathan incident, which had burned her magic supply between keeping the shape a reasonable size and the blast she had tried to use to burn off the extra energy. She had been in a semi-sleep state of hibernation for 3 days, slowly recovering her magic, until she could move around again. She was almost up to full power again, and would soon be back on call. 

 

The Task Force only worked when they got called in, but were paid in between missions. Sans figured it was a necessary balance for being on call 25/8. 

 

For now though, she turned to look at him with an eased, gentle smile. No teeth (that was scary shit.) but a nice smile. Her violet eyes were only brightened by the setting autumn sun, the giant ball of fire that Sans had come to love framed easily by her ears. 

 

The sun was a cool, bright orange and fading red, casing pink and yellow shadows across the clouds and making the water look like molten gold. 

 

It was August, that happy medium between Canada’s boiling hot and winter cold. Living here for 5 years and surviving it when needed taught Sans all he wanted to know about Alberta’s winters (note, THEY ARE HELL.) and more. 

 

When monsters had emerged, it turned out that they had actually come out in a strip of mountains known as the Rockies, and Ebbot was one of them in Canada, a relatively cool country a little north. Immediately, they were greeted kindly, gently, and with caution by the people, but the slightly crazy (but really nice) Canadians eventually welcomed them back to the surface. 

 

Toriel and Asgore, having taken back role as the King and Queen, even if they were no longer married, needed a more public place to run an embassy, so they were relocated, along with most of their friend circle, to Edmonton, Alberta. After spending a few brief weeks there, they decided to move to a far quieter town, and just keep jobs in Edmonton. 

 

This small town, less than a tenth of the population of Edmonton, was called Beaumont. 

 

It meant ‘Beautiful Hill’ in French or something. 

 

And Sans was more than happy for them to settle there. 

 

Chiller didn’t quite live in Beaumont, per say, actually, a 20 minute drive from it to the outskirts of Edmonton. She had chosen to stick close to the city, for time’s sake. 

 

Sans and Papyrus decided to stick together, in one house. Since moving to the surface, Sans had continually found more and more reason to get up in the morning, each day bringing him a new surprise. He had even managed to keep his room tidy. (I said ‘tidy’. Not clean.)

 

Toriel, Frisk and Asriel had also gotten a house, not far from Sans and Papyrus’, the kids often coming over when Chiller left Eras at their house. When she went on missions, Eras became a frequent sight around the Skelebros’ house. 

 

Not that they minded, Eras was great fun. 

 

But August held another, more hated meaning for Sans. 

 

August 23rd.

 

His ‘birthday’, if you would. 

 

The day that Gaster had pulled him out of containment. 

 

Papyrus’ was May 5th, Chiller’s was February 18th.

 

All three of them remembered those dates bitterly. 

 

Chiller often tried to be upbeat on the 18th of the second month, although it rarely worked, and she would turn into a moody mess.

 

Papyrus, who had been just young enough to repress those memories, celebrated his every year with his siblings, although, afterwards he often sat alone in his room, thinking. He remembered enough. Eventually, they threw him a big birthday bash, and he never hid upstairs afterward again. Instead, he asked Sans, Undyne, Alphys, Chiller or Toriel about it, and they would talk for a while.

 

Sans just hid away in his room, or snuck to Chiller's house to hang out in her hot tub. 

 

Chiller sighed, and rose out of the tub. “Kids! Grab towels, Tori’ll be here soon!” She called to the children, still splashing in her pool. They dragged themselves out, ran over to the deck, and grabbed their towels, wrapping them around their small bodies. 

 

Chiller shook herself off, guiding the children inside to change while Sans leaned over the side of the tub and turned on the jets, sinking deep into the rumbling bubbles, leaning into one of the seats, head against the waterproof pillow. 

 

And Sans basically fell asleep, lying in the hot tub, remaining in the warm water until Chiller came down there and pulled him out, gently carrying in her younger brother’s sleepy, half-unconscious, warm, limp, and rather wet form inside, wrapping him in a towel and resting him on her hip. 

 

Sans wrapped his arms slowly around her neck, his bones linking easily between the sharp ridges in her spine as she picked up the phone. 

 

“Hey Tori, do you mind bringing Sans home too?...Thanks. He’s just really sleepy and I don’t think he’d hang on well to teleporting or my motorbike. Thanks Tori. Bye.”

 

She hung up as the kids wandered in, in fuzzy pajamas. Frisk had on a small fluffy shirt, and the fuzziest pants known to man. Asriel had on basically the exact same thing, except in green and yellow rather than blue. Eras had on a grey-navy set of fuzzy pjs, that basically swamped him. The small hood was pulled up over his foxy ears, giving him a shy, adorkable look.

 

Chiller considered them momentarily, then rolled her eyes.  _ The ferocious Hunter, brought down by a group of puppy-faced children. _ She sighed, and walked over to the cupboard, pulling out a half-eaten box of Oreos and a jug of milk. She poured four cups of it, mostly using magic because she was still carrying Sans, and served up four Oreos to each. 

 

All of them took the unhealthy snack enthusiastically, Frisk even pausing in her cycle of being mute. “Chiller is the COOLEST AUNT EVER!” She shouted, and they all sat at the table, munching happily on cookies questionable to their health. 

 

“Yeah, well, tell your mom about it and it will never happen again, clear?” She purred. 

 

“We won’t!” Chorused back the children, smiling to her. All of them happily noshed on their cookies while Chiller snorted and drank her milk. They had gone over this many times. Chiller gives them cookies, they don’t tell Toriel, and Chiller gives them MORE cookies. Chiller gives them cookies, they tell Toriel, Chiller gets her ass chewed out and never gives anyone more cookies. 

 

This was an established pattern, that had gone on a while. No one exactly knew how Chiller kept Oreos in her house anymore.

 

Or any candy for that matter.

 

A while after the gang had finished their cookies, Toriel walked in to find them watching Ghostbusters on Chiller’s TV, the song having just come on. 

 

“IF THERE’S SOMETHING STRANGE!” Asriel shouted, holding his empty cup as a microphone.

 

“STRANGE!” Frisk and Eras echoed. Frisk was mute when she wanted to be, which was during the day. At night however…

 

“IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD!”

 

“NEIGHBOURHOOD!” 

 

“WHO YA GONNA CALL?!” Asriel set up, then he took in a deep breath.

 

All three of them said it at the same damn time, practically blowing off the roof with the loudness. “ **GHOST, BUSTERS!!!** ” They howled, then realized that Tori was standing there. 

 

Chiller pressed pause on the movie. 

 

“We can finish it next time, ok?” She told them. 

 

All three of them were happy to obey ‘Auntie Chiller’, so they all agreed and headed to Tori’s van without further complaint, except for Eras, who pressed closely to Chiller’s side. “Go up to bed, Eras.” Chiller murmured, and with a quick wave goodbye, the small fox monster vanished up the stairs.

 

“I’ll get Sans home for you.” The motherly goat monster smiled to the powerful boss monster, and gently took the smaller skeleton from his sister’s arms. 

 

“Thanks Tori.” Chiller smiled, allowing the transfer to occur.

 

“Anytime Chiller. I’ll see you on the twenty-third!” Toriel hefted Sans and walked to her car, buckling the sleeping skeleton into the passenger seat, while the children tried not to fall asleep in the back of the softly rocking van.

 

They had failed by the time they got into Beaumont.

 

~~***~~

 

On the 23rd, Chiller woke up to her alarm buzzing angrily in her ear. Normally, she’d shoot out of bed, ready to go to a battle, sending an emergency text to Tori to pick up Eras… But it was a Saturday, and she was off call. 

 

No need to get up. 

 

She furiously slammed her hand into the snooze button, and rolled over. 

 

She was woken 5 minutes later my something that didn’t have a snooze button, at least not one that she would use.

 

“Mommamommamommamomma!! WakeupwakeupwakeUP!!! It's Dunkle Sans’ birthday c’mon we gotta go start getting ready!” Eras shouted at her, pouncing on her tail under the sheets, then crawling up her body and shaking her shoulders violently. 

 

“...y’know, you don’t really strike me as a person who can bounce back after staying up until 11.” She groaned, cracking open one eye-socket to look at her ‘son.’

 

“I had some of your ‘morning brew’!” He barked joyfully, bouncing up and down on her. Chiller looked at him in a cross of shock and horror. “Now c’mon c’mon c’mON!” He leapt off her and raced for the main floor.

 

“W-wait a second!” Chiller called after him, rolling out of bed and quickly forming a good ‘lazy day’ outfit. “How many times have I told you not to touch my Dr. Pepper!” She shouted, less of a question and more of a command. 

 

“I don’t know but it’s really good! Now come on, we gotta set up the streamer cannons!” He shouted from downstairs. “I had a poptart with it and I can see flavors!” He added, laughing. Chiller rolled her eyes and came down the steps.

 

She herself made a poptart, eating it before shifting back and leaning on the wall. 

 

_ Rap rap rap! _ Three knocks, swift and sharp, from the door.

 

Chiller walked to the door, and opened it. Toriel and Asgore, as well as Frisk and Asriel, walked in, although the latter two basically vibrated through the door, and shot for Eras. The three chattered amongst themselves about the game room, and leapt for the basement stairs. They vanished into the depths, still joyfully yapping at eachother, voices overlapping as they disappeared into the blackness. 

 

Greetings were cool and polite, the adults discussing where to hide the decorations and cake. Despite being only 29, Chiller stood at equal height to Asgore, who hadn’t reached his full size until his 100th year. Chiller casually vaulted a chair when there was another knock at the door, which she opened.

 

“Hello sister!” Papyrus grinned. “We brought the ball-pit balls you requested!” He near-shouted, carrying a massive, cylindrical sack with small, round concave dents in the fabric surface, on his shoulder.  

 

Undyne followed him, with two of the same thing. “This is gonna be the BEST birthday EVER!” She actually shouted, and both of them ran into the main room, quickly placing down the sacks before running out to get more of them. 

 

Alphys shyly wheeled in a small trampoline. 

 

“T-th-this i-is a b-bad i-idea…” She said quietly. “But I love it.” Her stutter vanished as a devilish grin overtook her features, a complete, drastic, opposite change from the quiet Alphys they knew. 

 

Everyone who heard her decided, right then and there, that they preferred this Alphys to anything else that she was.

 

Del and Jack were also there, totally pumped. The two humans immediately got to work, awaiting orders from the monsters. Meanwhile, everyone else tried to get the bags out of Undyne’s truck.

 

After about 6 more trips to get all of the bags of balls, Toriel looked over at the clock. 

 

“...How do we keep him from coming early?” Toriel asked, concerned. It was now 11:30, and sans could be over anytime. 

 

“I’ve got this.” Chiller said coolly. “EVERYONE BE QUIET!” She shouted, dialing a number on her phone. Everyone went deadly silent, massive grins plastered to their faces. Chiller put on speakerphone, and held the mic close to her face. 

 

“Hello?” A gruff, sleepy voice filtered through the speaker.

 

“Hey Sans, It’s Chiller.” She purred out, evenly and calmly, not a single hint of what was to come. Thank god it was Chiller on the phone. Anyone else would’ve botched it. 

 

“Oh. Heya.” Sans sounded a little depressed. “I was thinking of heading over soon.” 

 

“About that.” Chiller began. “Eras and I are doing a bit of a cleaning. A nice deep clean.” Her eyes twinkled mischievously. “So unless you wanna be roped in…”

 

“No no no no! I’m uhh… Perfectly happy to stay here, thanks!” He said frantically. “Wh-when can I come over?” He asked, sounding a little nervous. He didn't want to be there when Papyrus got home. 

 

“Umm… We migh be done around 3, maybe 4?” She looked over at Toriel, who was frantically signing 4. 

 

“Alright, 5 it is then. See ya then, Chills.” He tried to sound upbeat, but even for the semi-depressed skeleton, this sounded a little forced. 

 

“Alright, Sans. See you.” She purred easily, and hung up. “He won’t be here until 5;30.” Chiller smirked.

 

“ALRIGHT THEN PUNKS!” Undyne shouted. “LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!” 

 

The preparations went well, mainly focused on filling Chiller’s entire goddamn living room with ball-pit balls. There was also a stair railing high above, which they built the portable trampoline under. Papyrus, at one point, threw himself into the pit, and immediately started a pained, wheezy laugh. 

 

“THERE’S NO CUSHION!” He gasped between giggles. “THEY’RE JUST LIKE ROCKS!” Chiller waded through the balls to get to her kitchen’s island, where Del was doing her damnest to set up a drink bar. 

 

Behind her, Jack was making food, supposedly with Papyrus, but he had gone to help Undyne. 

 

The kids were laughing, bouncing on the trampoline, reveling in this. Asgore had even stripped out of his cloak and kingly wear for a knitted sweater and jeans. Toriel was also wearing a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt, a far more practical outfit to her long dress. 

 

“Shit!” Del cursed, nearly dropping a bottle. Toriel gave her a death glare, but Chiller saved her. 

 

“God knows the children don’t care. Eras hears them too often, God only knows what Frisk thinks, and Asriel used them as Flowey.” She shrugged. Toriel gave both of them a long, hard stare before she turned back to watch the festivities. Streamers had been hung, and Eras had worked long and hard on paper lanterns that looked like Gaster Blasters. They were glowing internally blue by small tealights in their mouths.

 

Suddenly, a loud rattle sounded, and AC/DC’s ‘Givin’ the Dog a Bone’ started playing. Chiller made a frantic gesture, and everyone shut up instantly. She answered her phone, and replied easily. “Heya Sans.” She smiled. 

 

“Heya Chiller. How is the grand cleanery going?” He asked, voice a low, steady tone. No emotion behind it at all. 

 

From the couch, Eras cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “BATHROOMS ARE GROSS!” Chiller laughed, and, from the phone, so did Sans. It was unsure, and rather weak, but it was there. 

 

“Well, its 4. We’ll probably be done soon.” She said, winking to Toriel, who was putting the ice cream cakes in the freezer. They had pictures printed on them.

 

“Alright, well, I'll be there around 5, ok?” He said carefully.

 

“Yeah, come through the front. The back gate is… Being screwy again.” She laughed, and nodded.

 

“Alright, front door it is.” Sans sighed. “Be there soon.”

 

“Ok, little bro. See you soon.” She said gently. After she hung up, she sighed, massaging her temples. “Poor guy, he’s really depressed.” She shook her head. “I don’t know, guys, you think this is too much?” Chiller gestured to the surrounding room. 

 

“Of course not, Chiller!” Papyrus burst out. “This is exactly what Sans needs. To know that we care!” The tall skeleton struck a heroic pose. “It’s what helped me, the great Papyrus, of course!” 

 

“Of COURSE it helped you, you big cutie!” A lavish, playful voice echoed from the hall. Out of the hallway, walked Mettaton, Napstablook (now Napstabot) and Rapture, a powerful, velociraptor based robot. The latter was in his human form rather than his regular, raptine form, and the lights shone off all three of their chassis, light blue from Napstabot, and electrical blue from Rapture, and blazing pink from Mettaton. 

 

“The PARTY… Has arrived!” Rapture shouted, his overly sharp fangs glittering from his mouth. Mettaton and Napstabot laughed. Since being on the surface, Napstabot and Mettaton were each famous in their own right. Napstabot, or DJ-B|øø3, had quickly risen to be one of the modern techno artists, and since then, had come a lot out of his shell. 

 

Mettaton, the Singing Robot Sensation, was unbelievably popular. Every so often, him, Napstabot, and Rapture would join up to do a joint concert. 

 

As it had been accidentally discovered by Rapture howling with a microphone in range, the raptine robot had been found to have actually a very nice voice. Combine that with his shimmery feathers, lighted wings, and interesting shape, he played a lot of background vocals for both of the others, or, he sung in Blooky’s music. Whenever Raptine showed up on a stage with Mettaton, it could become hard to hear them both sing, people were cheering so loud.

 

Not that you could at most Mettaton concerts anyway.

 

Anyway, the three robots strutted in, although Blooky and Rapture basically dive-bombed into the balls and vanished until the others tackled them. All except for Papyrus, who ran (waded) over to Mettaton, swept him close, and the pair kissed. 

 

Chiller, who had been drinking a Pina Colada at the time, spat it out, laughing. Sans would’ve scowled so much at it, but she really didn't mind. It was just so sudden, and instant. Mettaton entered, Papyrus strutted up, boom, kiss. No words no nothing.

 

“Alright lovebirds. We need to decide where everyone’s hiding.” Chiller smirked. 

 

“That’s RIGHT! It will only be myself, Toriel, Chiller and Alphys to greet Sans at the door!” Papyrus announced. Mettaton looked slightly pouty. “Don’t worry, Mettaton, you get to douse Sans in balls!” Mettaton snorted. Papyrus looked confused, then sighed. “Y’know, there are so many jokes to be made with these things…” He shook his head, gazing at the sea of ball-pit balls.

 

Chiller laughed as well, then lead the specified set out. She had set up magical barriers earlier that would keep an enormous amount of balls right against the door to the room, and right behind that, a second barrier to keep the balls from going everywhere. She had also set up some around the furniture. She didn’t feel like picking all these out from under her couch and stuff. 

 

The barriers were unnoticeable and untouchable. So easy. 

 

The specified four debated, deciding in the end that Chiller would answer the door, and the others would jump out and surprise him when he got in a little bit.

 

And so they hid.

 

And waited. 

 

Chiller played Pokemon Go on her phone until there was a loud few knocks on the door. In the living room, she could hear frantic ‘shh! Shh! He’s here!’s. Everyone scrambling to hide… And then silence.

 

Chiller put her phone away, and opened the door. 

 

“Hey Sans.” She said coolly, not an inkling to what was about to happen. 

 

“Hey Sis… Could I come in? It’s bone-chilling cold out here!” He winked, trying to be funny.

 

“Really, Sans? Two in one go?” She rolled her eyes. “Come in, ya big goof.” She wrapped an arm behind him, hand on his back, when they through the room. 

 

“Hey uhh… Isn’t the back yard that wa-” He looked up at her and then very near leapt out of his eye sockets when Toriel, Papyrus and Alphys popped out. 

 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!” They shouted. 

 

Sans stood in complete, total, dead standstill shock for a second. Then… He started laughing. It was slow, careful, like he was trying not to. He laughed, a deep, steady, fake-feeling laugh, for a while, everyone in the room glancing at eachother in worry, until it steadily devolved into crying.

 

Sans started crying. 

 

Instantly, Chiller knelt down, placed hands on his shoulders and looked at his face. 

 

“Hey hey hey what’s wrong?” She said quietly, concerned. 

 

“Y-yo-you…” He stuttered, small, lightly glowing blue tears leaving tracks down his face. He couldn’t meet her eyes. “Y-y-you c-c-care…” He whispered, and slowly stumbled forward into his sister’s chest, gripping onto her shirt, burying his face in it. 

 

“Of course I care Sans, we all do.” She purred, running a hand down his skull. He shivered under her touch, fearful and nervous. 

 

Papyrus walked up, joining the sibling hug. “That’s why we’re here, brother… Because we care.” He pressed a skeletal kiss to Sans’ head, trying to comfort his older brother. 

 

Gradually, his shivers slowed, and ceased. “...Thank you.” He murmured. “For being here…” He whispered, just loud enough for Alphys and Toriel to hear as well. All four smiled, and Sans wiped off his face. 

 

“Well, that’s that little brother. Come on, let’s go…” Chiller stood up, and Sans boldly opened the door to her living room, quite honestly confident that he could handle anything that they threw at him.

 

Oh, he was so wrong.

 

Instantly, he was drowned in a literal wave of ball-pit balls, in all colors, as they  _ flowed, _ like so many particles of water, out of the door. Before they could go too far, they were stopped by Chiller’s barrier. 

 

Sans shot out of the pile of balls with a gasp, shaking his head. “Tha’ hell?!” He blinked at the sudden appearance of 800 plastic balls… All over his face. He blinked at them, before walking sideways into the room, wading through the balls. 

 

“SURPRISE!!!!” Everyone shot out of the ball pit, except for Eras, who jumped off the balcony and onto the trampoline, snapping a picture of Sans in shock for the second time that day. He jumped a bit when everyone popped up, and this time, he laughed actually. Genuine. 

 

“Is THIS what you did all day?!” He asked between barks of laughter. There wasn't a single person who couldn’t help laughing too. “This is your version of a house clean!?” He was crying again, but this time in laughter.

 

“Screw it, we’re partyin!” Chiller cried out. Napstabot had already set up music, lights… On Chiller’s kitchen table. 

 

The party went about 7 levels of insane, varying from what felt like a rave to a expanded board of ‘Settlers Of Catan’, amid much contemplation and thought. 

 

When the kids had gone to bed (a sleepover in Chiller’s basement) the adults put on their swim-suits, got drinks (serious business this time) and took their own dips in the pool. Sans even had the bravery to go into the main, big pool. 

 

Finally, while the others got their turn, Chiller and Sans sat in the hot tub, warming their bones momentarily. 

 

“Hey.” Sans said, bold and unreadable. Chiller turned to blink at him.

 

“Yes?” She purred, clear and smooth.

 

“...Thank you for this.” He looked into his glass of sparking orange liquid, a Bravery drink. It was pretty interesting. Del took a second job, other than her grocery store one, at Grillby's. The requirement for that told of her needing to learn how to make monster drinks. “I mean… This means a lot to me. This is…” He looked down, into the water. “The first time… That I've really enjoyed the day I was taken from con-” 

 

“Your birthday.” Chiller broke in coolly. 

 

“Huh?” Sans looked up.

 

“It's not the day you were taken from containment. It's your birthday.” Chiller gave a sideways smirk. Sans grinned. 

 

“...Birthday.” He gave a small laugh. “...It feels good.” He said, placing his drink by the side and running into the large pool, creating a splashing dive-bomb into the water. Chiller sighed, and let her false smile fade. Slowly, she reached up a hand to her neck. She could still feel the magical scars left from torn constructs inside of her throat…

 

From her Birthday.


	4. Swift Paws, Soft Breath, Small Heart, Child.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eras, because I wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is Ugly by Nicole Dollanganger

Eras stormed inside, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. It was way late, almost 9:00. He had stayed out late to hang out with some friends, even letting Chiller know where he’d be before hand. 

 

It hadn’t gone well.

 

Slamming the door, he yanked off his backpack and threw it at the wall. It nailed the wall with a loud  _ thump  _ and fell to the floor. He could feel the integrity of his  dimuinutive soul trying to compensate for his pain. He ached inside, his teeth gritted so hard they might snap. 

 

He stomped upstairs, throwing the door to his room closed as well, letting the wood crack together as he slammed it shut. His whole chest shook with the tremors from his pathetic soul, his entire being furious and sad. The teenage fox-monster flopped on his bed, flipping so that his whole body was laying on the mattress, trying to muffle the pounding of his useless ugly soul. He buried his face in the pillow and bit down hard on the fluff, trying not to cry. 

 

He didn’t notice that Chiller entered his room, until her hands lay on his shoulders and gently pulled him up, facing her. 

 

His ocean blue eyes, as watery as their namesake, met her firm purple ones, a sad, broken expression against one of no bullshit. 

 

Eras’ eyes scrunched up, looking at the cool, slightly concerned face of his mother.

 

“Eras… What happened? What’s wrong?” Chiller purred, not unhappy or happy. She was calm and clear. 

 

“W-we h-had a pl-play-fight, m-mom…” He whimpered, the light blue tears finally starting to flow down his cheeks. “A-a-and th-they s-said m-m-my so-soul I-is we-weak! B-be-because I-I-it's SMALL!” He shouted, starting to break down. Chiller winced, closing her eyes and letting out a long breath. Eras leaned in, head in the crook of her neck. “C-called it u-ugly… An-and p-pathe-pathetic! Th-then they called me weird… Be-be-because I s-should b-be sm-smaller s-s-since my s-s-soul i-is s-so sm-small!” He hissed, quietly sobbing into the shoulder of her shirt. “I’m ugly…” He whispered under his breath. Chiller gathered him gently onto her lap, and began to gently pet down his head. Eras’ tail flopped back, down on the floor, the fluffy, orange magic fur that covered it and made it soft and downy was a little darker than usual. He continued to shake, hitching against her body, gripping onto the back of her shirt with a death grip of claws.

 

“You said… They made fun of your body…” Chiller sang slowly. Eras continued to cry. 

 

“Humiliation in your eyes… When you, told me…” She continued, voice easing and slow. Her hand was gentle and comforting on his ears.

 

“Well I~’m gonna find them don’t you… Worry…” Just thinking about her Eras being tormented like that made Chiller’s hackles rise. As for now, though, she just kept singing, even though he hadn’t stopped crying.

 

“I’ll make sure, they’re really fucking sorry…” Chiller said the swear word without any regrets. Eras didn’t care, he just wanted to stop.

 

“You say, you’re embarrassed of your body.” Chiller continued, and Eras started to slow down. He was really tired now, after crying.

 

“You told me you think you’re really ugly.” Chiller just kept going, her voice clear and easy. 

 

“But my love, I know, you don’t see what I see.” 

 

“Anything that is beautiful, people want to break…” Slowly, Chiller pushed Eras outward, so he could look at her face as she sang.

 

“And you are beautiful, I’m afraid.”

 

She sang those lines again, and Eras stared at her in semi-shock, before she let him lean back into her.

 

“You said you’re ashamed of your body.” 

 

“You’d rather die than show me.” 

 

“But I would love you in any form you’d take…”

 

“You said that they say you’re disgusting.”

 

“That they told you you were fat and unworthy.” Being cuddled, warm, safe, secure, and now tired, was causing Eras to fall asleep. 

 

“Well my love I hope you trust me... when I say you have a perfect body.” His hands slowly released their death grip on her back, his whole body relaxing.

 

“Anything that is beautiful, people want to break…”

 

“And you are beautiful, I’m afraid.” Gradually, his blue eyes faded shut, slowly drifting in a comfortable blackness. 

 

“Anything that is beautiful, people want to break…”

 

“And you are beautiful, I’m afraid.”

 

And his little ears slumped, asleep. Chiller smiled, and slowly pried him off her body, unfolding the blankets on his bed and laying him down gently and covering him back up with the blankets. She slowly slipped out of his room. As she flicked off the light though, she glanced back at him. 

 

Despite his pain, he was peaceful in sleep. 

 

She smiled at him. 

 

At least he was safe from ever being a science project. 


	5. And You Can Hear the Water Slosh Around Inside His Tiny Gut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MORE ERAS BECAUSE I HAD A NEED

“Shh guys!” Frisk signed, laughing, leading the troop down to the riverside. 

 

Their parents had told them not go down too close to the bank of the North Saskatchewan, which is funny, because Chiller’s house had a set of stairs that lead down to the riverside. It wasn’t the sandy beach though, it was the relatively short cliffside.

 

Monster Kid, Eras, Frisk and Asriel walked along the cliffline, skipping and joking. It was a late September Saturday, the children having gone to Chiller’s house to play Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. When Toriel called, she had kicked them off the Wii and told them to go outside. So they walked out her back gate and went down to the river, like. They were certainly allowed to go out there, but not too close to the side of the cliff.

 

Frisk skipped close to the edge, followed by MK, both laughing gently. 

 

“You know, you shouldn’t be that close to the edge.” Eras shrugged, following them with a gentle smile. 

 

“Aw, alright.” Frisk signed, and they returned a little closer to the center of the path. 

 

MK turned to do the same… When his foot slipped. He let out a strangled yelp, falling completely over backwards, smacking his head on a rock. His previous struggles went completely limp, splashing into the water with a crash like a thousand cymbals as he vanished in the driving current. 

 

The other three stood, completely shell shocked, until Frisk screamed. 

 

“MONSTER KID!” They shrieked, racing down the path, trying to catch up to MK’s bright yellow, bobbing form. 

 

Asriel also started chasing them. Eras stood, completely in shock for a long time… Then his instincts took over. He started running, falling forward as he did. His hips melted and shifted into a more downwards stance, his legs pumping, shooting him forward with powerful blasts of spring-loaded movement. His hands melted and morphed together, short, blunt claws appearing on the ends of his new, stouter fingers. Claws also appeared on his back feet, digging into the dirt to give even more kick. He overtook Frisk and Asriel in seconds, but his fiercely determined blue eyes remained firm and stable, locked intently onto MK’s bright shape. His foxy form edged close to the cliffside, chest heaving as he remained perfectly in line with Monster Kid’s drowning. Then he put on a burst of speed, and launched in front of the bobbing body, before leaping off the cliffside, shifting back into his normal form before he hit the water. Eras, living with a pool in his backyard, was a very, very strong swimmer, but the plunge into the North Saskatchewan was something entirely new. 

 

First thing, it was cold. So icy cold, all the air blasted out of his lungs the second he hit. Second off, the current was like a thousand icy bullets in his back with every new wave. Still, tail waving and legs kicking, he swam, catching MK swiftly, pulling the smaller monster’s head above the surface. It took him about a second to realize that he was never going to pull off swimming against the brutal current with only three paws. Quickly, he ducked underwater, hooking the long teeth of his foxy jaw into the back of MK’s stripy sweater. He kicked out, feet scraping the bottom of the river.  _ CLAWS!  _ He thought.  _ I need claws! _

 

Quickly, he initiated the transformation, feeling his hips shift into a different position. With that little boost, he started a strong paddle, shoving the juvenile wyvern’s head high above the water. Wherever he could get one, he used claws to force off the rocks, his hands becoming wide paws, giving him a greater paddle. Liquid flooded his mouth with each paddle as he struggled to keep MK and himself above water. Frisk and Asriel were crying, screaming as they were getting pulled down the river. Eras’ teeth were set in cold determination, midnight blue eyes turning to a more royal color as he lashed against the river, the pupils narrowing down into slits. He threw out his feet again, and suddenly realized that the ground had vanished under his paws, frantically kicking as he was suddenly carried back, the unconscious child in his teeth barely moving as Eras did his damnest to keep them both up.

 

White-water waves buffeted his ears and head, forcing him to gasp whenever he could even breathe. All the while, he pushed his legs and arms, forcing them to any end he could muster, keeping MK’s scaled face above the surface. Eras didn’t know how long he spent keeping them both alive, but finally, one paw latched onto a root by the side. Eras wasted no time. His claws drove into the root, shifting into a hand as Eras slowly dragged himself and his friend onto the surface. His paws touched concrete, hauling them all the way up and out. Eras had taken a beating, being battered with wave after wave of icy water. He had valiantly defended MK, who was unconscious on the ground still. 

 

Frisk and Asriel finally ran up, shouting things as people gathered around. Eras, mostly unable to hear, just saw their mouths moving, but no one seemed to be calling anyone. Asriel was gesturing angrily at an older human, while Frisk knelt near Eras and MK, tears streaming down her face, but no sound came out. MK wasn’t moving, no sign of breath, and no one had called the hospital?!

 

Eras, on his knees because he was so shaky, extended one arm to the side, a ball of magic forming in his hand. The other humans, the police officer 40 feet away… 

 

None of them had seen yet. 

 

Eras closed his hand, shattering the ball of magic.

 

And all he could hear were car alarms, blazing from all directions, as humans swarmed them. Then time started to overlap, confused back and forth. Someone screamed into a phone. A shrill siren shrieking at him from some direction. Monster Kid barfing up a flood of water, Frisk crying and hugging them. Asriel talking to one of the paramedics.

 

And the whole time, Eras just sat there, eyes blank and empty. He remained there, kneeling on the gravel as Asriel and Frisk were forced away from the back of the ambulance ( _ when had THAT got there? _ ) as MK was getting a check up done. Finally, his brain skipped to when a medic, dressed in white, knelt in front of him and started talking softly. 

 

“Heya kid, that was mighty brave. We have a few witnesses, say you leapt right in.” The medic said slowly, making sure that Eras would understand. 

 

Adam might’ve been a junior paramedic at the Royal Alex, but it was his goal to be a monster paramedic. He was studying with one of the monster doctors, Dr. Miranda Shultz, who was spectacular at her job. Even being in training, he recognized the child as a partial skeleton monster, which was basically a skeleton monster with bone skin. And he recognized the signs of shock. 

 

_ Eyelights are very lightly colored, panting, erratic soul glow… _ Adam thought, looking Eras over.  _ Shock. _

 

Eras’ eyes slowly moved up to look at the medic in the face. He tried to say ‘thank you’, but all that came out was a squeak. 

 

“Aw, it’s ok. Thanks to you, you’re friend’s gonna be just fine. He’s a tough kid.” Adam continued, kneeling gently in front of the young monster. 

 

That was obviously what Eras’ exhausted body was waiting for. He was only to remain conscious until he knew that MK was fine. Right after Adam said that, Eras gave a slow, wry smile before his eyelights flickered from the light blue they were to white, and he slumped forward, giving Adam almost no time to catch him. 

 

Asriel, Frisk and MK were too busy apologizing or reassuring eachother to notice that Eras wasn’t just resting until Adam ran over to the Ambulance, carrying an unconscious Eras. 

 

The first sign that this wasn’t just Eras being lazy was that his tail didn’t have the bright orange fur it usually did. 

 

The second was that his ears were limp, but flipped forward. It was not a position that could be reached easily. Only when knocked out could either Chiller or Eras do that to their ears.

 

Adam lay him gently on a stretcher. “Call Dr. Shultz.” He directed one of the other paramedics. “The kid’s exhausted, and we’re dealing with sever cutting and torn skin on paws and hands, probably hypothermia. Species is a foxlike Partial Skeleton.” Adam demanded as he examined Eras’ limbs. He wished he had the sense to approach Eras earlier, or else he wouldn’t be shivering like a leaf now.

 

MK, Frisk and Asriel were sat beside the ambulance, a female paramedic with black hair and gold streaks tending them, doing minor checks on MK and Frisk for shock and hypothermia for the former, but she peeked inside of the Ambulance when the name ‘Delilah’ was called. 

 

“Yes?” She asked. 

 

After she was done, she walked back over to the kids. “I need you guys to tell me your mom’s phone number.” She asked Asriel gently. Of all of them, Asriel was probably the strongest now. 

 

Even having part of Chara’s soul had made him very stable. Asriel didn’t cry, but he showed emotion in everything. He could take a punch without retaliation, but would get brutally angry if anyone hit Frisk. He did work outs now, despite being only 13,  and was easily the toughest kid in school. 

 

But of all the people to lay him on the floor, no one expected that the only one of his age class that could, was Eras. 

 

Skinny, weak, shy little Eras. Sure, the fox stood about 4 inches over Asriel’s head, but at the same time. 

 

Asriel, who was hugging Frisk and MK gently, told her the number. 

 

“Thanks, young man. What’s your friend’s name?” Delilah asked. 

 

“Um.. Fri-”

 

“The fox. What’s his name?” She inquired. 

 

“Eras.” Asriel responded. 

 

“Ok, thanks.” She nodded, and pulled out her phone, dialing the number Asriel told her. “Hello, Mrs. Dreemur? Oh, I’m sorry Ms. Re’ourn. Your son gave me this number… Yes, this is the hotline for the Ambulance I'm calling you on. No, your son is fine. Frisk is as well, yes… Do you know Monster Kid? Rex? That’s his name? Ah, yes, thank you for clearing that up, I’m afraid he fell in the river… Yes, he’s fine now, perfectly fine… Our concern currently is his savior…Mhmm, do you know who Eras’ parents are?” 

 

Delilah jumped as someone let out a choked shriek on the other end of the line. After the strangled cry, a rough shuffling overtook the phone speaker. 

 

“D-did you say ‘Eras?’” Sans’ voice asked through the speakers. 

 

“Y-yes…” The girl said slowly. 

 

“...oh god Chiller’s gonna kill me…” Sans said slowly. There was a rustling as Toriel took the phone back. 

 

“Where are you at the moment?” Toriel asked. Frisk suddenly realized that all of the car alarms had stopped. 

 

“Oh uhh… At the lower level parking lot of the Riverside Runners.” Delilah answered. The two said their goodbyes and hung up.

 

It was no more than 15 minutes before a white van came blazing through the lot, parking swiftly. Toriel and Sans leapt out, Sans practically teleporting to the kids.

 

“Are you ok?” They all nodded when sans asked. “Where’s Eras?” He demanded at once, just as Toriel ran up. Asriel slowly pointed to the inside of the ambulance. 

 

Sans peeked inside to where Eras lay. 

 

“Oh man… Chiller’s gonna kill me…” He whispered.

 


End file.
